


Peace of Heart

by rainbowhuesoflife



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Adventure, Character Death, Eventual Romance, Friendship, Fun, Heavy Themes but Mostly Fun, Original Character(s), Post-Canon, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 05:31:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19761595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowhuesoflife/pseuds/rainbowhuesoflife
Summary: A young woman named Link leaves her home and starts the adventure of a lifetime, helping everyone she can and making lots of friends along the way. From sailing the ocean to solving puzzles in ancient labyrinths to climbing up to the heavens, walk the road with her and see if your heart grows along with hers.|||Female Link. Male Zelda. Other "canons" are mostly probably going to be the same as their previous portrayals, but we'll see.|||Currently writing the first of what's planned to be 8 arcs, each arc having anywhere from 5 to 10 chapters. Buckle up or something. Eventually going to have a huge cast (that alone should probably be a tag too, huh?), lots of Sages and other people to rescue, though they aren't the Sealing Sages or Master Sword Sages. Lots of original characters, some named after/based off of friends. You will know when you pop up, I assure you. No matter how big the cast may get, the main focus will (pretty much) always be on our pink-haired wanderer, though everyone WILL get times to shine. Without boring you any further, enjoy~





	Peace of Heart

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly can't think of a name for this chapter, so you're stuck with Prelude. Probably forever.
> 
> 1.) When you see a person talking in angled brackets <"Like this,"> it means they're speaking a language other than the common human tongue of this time, and what language it is will pretty much always be made clear then and there. In the original file, I have it typed in the appropriate Hylian language font to add some fun Zelda flair, but that formatting doesn't carry over to Ao3, so, my apologies.
> 
> 2.) There are some names thrown around in here that you're not going to know, and that's because they have to do with previous Zelda fics of mine, which I've never posted, and they're not important. The only important thing to note is that this story takes place long after those events, and that... will become relevant much later, if ever. 
> 
> 3.) Some chapters of this story will contain words and sentences spoken in Va Ehenív, a constructed language created by Nina-Kristine Johnson, and said chapters will be credited accordingly. Please visit http://va-eheniv.conlang.org/englishgerdo.html for more information and links. Kitit!
> 
> PACE~

**1\. Prelude**

“I don’t want to be stuck on this farm for the rest of my life, either, you know.”

_“Bok bok bkaw!”_ answered the cucco, hopping and running along an old, unkempt path up the mountain.

“Clara, please, I don’t have time for this.”

_“Bwo-o-ok bok bok.”_

Link shivered in the cool Autumn wind, wishing she had run inside for a jacket before giving chase. Then again, if she had taken the time to do so, the cucco would have made it to the mountain’s low peak. That was about the only place she - or anyone else - had to go.

‘Mountain in the Northeast… Or across the bridge to Mother Island. No matter which direction you go, you’re cut off by the sea eventually.’

_“Bok bok bokbokbok!”_

“I know, my dear, I know,” Link sighed, her pace slowed to a somber walk as she glanced at the Western horizon. The sun was setting, seeming to dip into the ocean at the speed of a glacier. Another day almost done.

Before she knew it, the cucco indeed was almost to the summit, now clucking louder than ever.

“Why are you so nervous, Clara?”

Of course, any response she would get from the cucco, she wouldn’t understand. She sped up her pace, catching up to the anxious farm animal in good time.

“Gotcha!” She plucked from the cucco’s beak the knife she had randomly picked up and ran with, and put it back into her pocket. “Now, that’ll be enough nonsense out of you. What has you so agitated, dear?”

As if in answer to this, the clouds in the sky turned dark unnaturally fast, and she noticed a red light shining from the summit.

“What is that?”

_“Bkaww!”_ the cucco said, as if trying to answer the question.

“Let’s check it out,” Link said, petting Clara and smoothing out her feathers. The cucco seemed not to like this idea, and twitched nervously in the human’s arms.

When Link reached the summit, she found a person standing within the circle of giant stones that crowned the mountain, chanting unfamiliar words. They were wearing a long, hooded robe, so the young farmer wasn’t able to discern anything about the stranger. She debated with herself on whether she should try to get closer, but as soon as she took her first step, the hooded person turned around and sent a mysterious red orb flying at the farm girl, knocking her to the ground. It was only at this time that she realized the light she had seen was seeping into the hooded figure’s body.

“Don’t worry, ranch-girl,” the stranger scoffed. “I’ll be off of your meager land once I’m finished with my task here. I won’t harm your precious animals.”

Link couldn’t answer, as she was still catching her breath. It was then that she noticed a glint of metal up on an outcropping and soon saw someone jumping down with a sword in his hands, the tip of the blade aimed down toward the mysterious figure. The robed stranger turned and blasted this newcomer with the same type of red orb, which knocked him against the face of one of the stones.

“Ah, the gallant knight, come to save the day,” the hooded person mocked before throwing back their hood, revealing the face of a woman in her late twenties, her hair chestnut brown and her eyes now glowing red. “You followed me all the way out to the middle of nowhere? What dedication. What commitment! What a perfect waste of time.”

“Curse you!” The swordsman struggled to his feet, panting.

“I’ve released the seal, boy hero. I’ve absorbed the Forbidden Power. All of it. There’s no force on the planet that can stop me now.” She let out a laugh and threw a red lightning bolt from her hand to strike the swordsman, who groaned and fell to his knees.

“It’s been nice to meet you, farmer,” the robed stranger smiled, turning her attention to Link. “Don’t worry, you’re too insignificant for me to worry about. I won’t kill you. You may go back to your pointless life of crops and farm animals. Farewell.”

She raised her arms up into the air, and a loud crackling sounded as a red lightning bolt struck her hands and swirled around her body. Link rose to her feet and ran as fast as she could to charge the woman, but her target vanished with the red swirl of magic, and she ran past the place she had once occupied, almost losing her balance and falling. She turned and glanced around frantically, but the woman was gone without a trace.

The sound of painful groaning reached her ears, diverting her attention, and she turned to where the swordsman lay, writhing in pain from being struck by the stranger’s magic. She was just about to ask if he was alright, when suddenly golden-brown feathers burst out of his right arm, then out of his left, and his body began to shrink down to a smaller size while feathers burst out from his back as well. Soon he was coated in feathers, his arms transformed into wings and his feet transformed into huge, sharp talons. In place of a swordsman, she was now staring into the eyes of a large brown owl.

“O… Oh… Are you…?”

“What did she do to me?” the bird suddenly hooted, taking Link by surprise.

“Uh… Umm…”

“A bird!” he shrieked, flapping his new wings frantically, throwing feathers everywhere. “A bird! She turned me into a bird!”

“I’m sorry,” she said, placing a hand on the top of his head to try to calm him down, though this did no good, and he merely shook his head and went hopping and tumbling around. “I didn’t… mean for this to happen.” After more jumping and falling down and crazed flapping, the owl screeched loudly, letting out an incomprehensible line of curses and otherwise loud, angry and nasty words. Eventually his speech turned into something intelligible, and he glared at the young lady.

“If you hadn’t come along, I would have been able to kill her before she absorbed the power! It’s all your fault!” Link didn’t stoop down to answering the yelling with more yelling, only stood up straight and crossed her arms. “Now she has enough power to destroy the world! No one can stop her!”

“That’s not true.” The two turned around to face the direction this new voice had come from.

“What…?”

A small ball of green light with transparent wings was rising from the ground in the center of the stone circle. It flew through the air gracefully toward Link, who for some reason she couldn’t explain, instinctively held her hand out.

The tiny being faded some of its excess light, just enough to let them see the faint figure of a miniature woman tiny enough to stand on Link’s palm, wearing an orange and light-brown tunic. Her clothing consisted of several leaves sewn together, though Link questioned how they could be a durable enough material. A soft twinkling, barely audible, sounded when she flitted her wings, and tiny specks of shimmering dust fell from her when she moved, dissolving in midair before they touched anything.

“Oh… Goodness… Are you…?”

“Yep,” the tiny person nodded, smiling, as her wings fluttered. “A faerie.”

Link felt a strange impulse to touch the faerie with her other hand, but as she raised her arm, the tiny woman jumped backward off of her palm, diving gracefully into the air and twirling around before flying toward the man-turned-owl.

“Looks like you’ve been cursed, mister owl. I’ve seen this before. I actually have a friend who can help, if you want to come with me-”

“I don’t need your help,” the owl said, flapping his wings awkwardly. “There are people in my hometown who can change me back.”

“Wait, let me help you,” Link said. “It could be dangerous out there.”

“I think you’ve helped enough!” After two failed attempts, he finally hit the air and flew off to the Northeast. The two watched him fly away until he was out of sight.

“Well, I guess it’s just me and you now,” the faerie said with a shrug.

“What do you mean?” Link asked, glancing around to find the cucco that had fallen out of her grasp during the conflict. She picked up the bird, who clucked happily, no longer stressed now that the powerful woman was gone. “I… Don’t even know you.”

“Oh, well, let’s remedy that,” the faerie laughed, circling the human before coming to a swift, controlled stop in front of her face. “I’m Tashi. I’m a faerie from the Autumn court of the Kakariko Woods. Well, I used to be… In the time before I was sealed, I was just an adventurer. What’s your name?”

“…Link.”

“Link,” Tashi said, slowly, as if weighing the name on her tongue. “Hm… I like it! ‘Hero’, right?” She smiled expectantly, as if it were only natural the farmer should know what she meant.

“Um… I don’t follow.”

“Oh, never mind… There’s no telling how much time has passed.”

“You said you were ‘sealed’?” Link asked, before shaking her head and reminding herself to get back down to sea level. “What does that mean, exactly?”

“I was locked away. With magic,” she added as an afterthought, as she flitted after the human and kept pace beside her shoulder. “It’s a long story, but I was locked in that stone circle along with the Forbidden Power.”

“The Forbidden… Power?”

“You might know it better as ‘Reznor’.”

“REZNOR?” Link took a step back, her eyes wide, and Tashi turned around to wait for her. “The evil king?”

“Ah, so you do know about all that,” the faerie said. “Even way out here.”

“My uncle is Hyrulean,” Link said. “And… So were my parents, I guess.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“You have no need to be,” Link said, continuing on her way. “So, Reznor had some kind of power that was forbidden? What happened to it after that? That was hundreds of years ago.”

“How many hundreds are we talking about?”

“Hm… Well, it’s 1496 after the Cataclysm, so…”

“Two hundred years,” Tashi said, letting herself fall slowly to the ground.

“No, I’m sure it was a lot longer ago than…” Link trailed off when she saw the faerie’s sudden change in demeanor. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“I just… Humans don’t live long enough.” She rose from the ground and began flying Northward.

“Tashi?” The faerie turned back around, wiping tears from her eyes. “Um… Do you like milk or apple juice? We have the finest on the island.”

Tashi smiled.

\/\/\/\/\/

“And just where have you been, young one?”

A middle-aged man stood on the top stair at the back door of a house, the only building in sight other than the farmhouse nearby. He was wearing earth colors similar to Link’s own work clothes, and had blue hair that contrasted well with Link’s pink locks, though his was brushed to the side neatly while hers had become disheveled in the chaos.

“Uncle,” Link greeted with a bow. “I… Clara ran off, and…”

“How many times have I told you not to worry about the stray?” the man reprimanded. “We have plenty of animals to focus your attention on.”

“She took my knife,” Link continued, quieter this time. “So I chased after her, and… Things happened.”

“Define ‘things’.”

“Hi,” Tashi said, flying out of Link’s pocket and hovering in front of the man. “My name’s Tashi. I’m sorry I held up your niece.” The man’s demeanor changed completely, eyes wide.

“A faerie!”

“The genuine article,” Tashi smiled, twirling around in midair.

“I can’t believe I’m meeting a real, living faerie… This is amazing! Where are you from? Link, hold it right there.”

Link, who had been trying to stealthily escape while her uncle was preoccupied, let out a groan as she turned around to face him.

“Yes, Uncle?”

“You’re not off the hook just yet. You know, Mathy had to do some of your work because we couldn’t find you.”

“I mean, it’s his fault for volunteering...”

“He didn’t volunteer to do _your_ job.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Now go wash up, it’s almost dinner time.”

Link clicked her tongue and sighed, but climbed the stairs and walked inside.

“I’m Dallin, by the way,” Link’s uncle said, turning his attention back to Tashi.

“Nice to meet you, Dallin,” Tashi said with a bow, thankful the awkward moment was over.

“And the same to you. Would you like to have dinner with us, Madame Tashi?”

“Well, I _was_ promised milk and apple juice,” the faerie shrugged, smiling, before following him inside.

“Hey Tashi, there aren’t any cups small enough for you,” Link announced when the faerie flew into the kitchen. “Unless you want a teaspoon measurer?”

“That works for me,” Tashi smiled, zipping through the air to rest on the counter where Link set a tiny spoon with a flat handle. It was a bit unwieldy, but she lifted it and drank the milk, feeling refreshed from her long stasis already.

“Like it?”

“It’s divine. You guys grow your own cows here?”

“We _raise_ them,” Link giggled. “Cows don’t grow in the ground, y'know.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t,” Tashi winked. “They’d have to grow _out_ of the ground.”

“Well played,” Link said, laughing even more as she went about delivering bowls of stew and plates full of bread and cheese to the table her uncle had just set. “Now, we do have bowls your size,” Link said, slightly raising in the air the tiny glass mixing bowl she had dipped in the stew before delivering it to the table. “But you’re going to have to drink it like a cup.”

“Oh, I appreciate it, but you guys don’t have to feed me,” Tashi said, shaking her head.

“Of course we don’t,” Link winked. “But we can, so we will. If you’ll stay for it.”

“I suppose I won’t lose too much time if I just stay for dinner…” She shrugged and flew toward the table. “Sure, count me in.”

“You're welcome to anything we can provide for you,” Dallin said, taking his seat at the table, followed quickly by Link, who sat opposite him.

“Thank you both.” Dallin then turned his attention to his niece.

“You finished with the lumber, dear?”

“Just about,” she nodded, pausing with her spoon midway between her bowl and her mouth. “I just need to put it all up. Clean up. That’s about it. Anything else need to be done?”

“Not anymore.” Link took in a long breath.

“Mm,” she nodded, finishing the spoon’s journey and letting that be the end of the subject. She finished the rest of her soup as quickly as she could and excusing herself to clean up from her day’s work.

“Hot and cold, eh?” Tashi asked Dallin once the pink-haired girl was gone.

“She’s fifteen,” Dallin shrugged. “I was there once. But she’s got her father’s curiosity and her mother’s strong will.”

“And her uncle’s generosity,” the faerie noted.

“I try, I really do.”

“You’re doing great, trust me. It’ll show more later.”

“I thank you for your kind words.”

“Ah, I just tell how I see,” she shrugged. “By the way, Sir Dallin, I was wondering if you could tell me anything about the world today. I’ve been asleep for a long time.”

“Ah… I must ask your forgiveness, Madame Tashi, for I’ve got no useful answer. I’ve been on these islands for almost sixteen years now. Link and I came here with her parents when she was just an infant.”

“Ah, I see. And the parents?”

“They didn’t survive the journey from Hyrule.”

“Oh… I’m so sorry.”

“Long since passed, madame,” he shook his head. “It’s okay. I’ve had many years to mourn and manage my feelings. Of course, Link is becoming an adult, one that looks so much like my sister… Ah, I’m sorry, why am I telling you these things?” He got up from his chair and brought the dishes to the kitchen sink.

“Probably because you haven’t talked to anyone in a long time,” Tashi laughed. “Surely there are other settlements on the island?”

“Oh, of course, there’s Novia Town on Mother Island. That’s where Link went to school.”

“And where might that be?”

“Just to the North, across the bridge and Northeast a ways. Mother Isle is the main island. This one is known as Child Isle. There are a few smaller islets, as well.”

“Ah, I suppose the land could be separated after all that time,” Tashi muttered to herself.

“Beg pardon, I didn’t hear you.”

“Ah, nothing. I’m going to check on Link, I’ll be right back.”

“Make yourself at home, ma’am,” Dallin smiled.

The faerie flew outside in a flash, flitting around until she found the young farmer, who had just finished putting away her tools.

“Hey, Link, I…”

“What’s up, Tashi? …Tashi?”

She had turned to the West and stared into the distance.

“I just… Someone else is here… Someone with a lot of force… I wonder why I didn’t feel it before.” Link wasn’t sure if she meant “before” as in earlier, or “before” as in two centuries ago. “I’ll be back.” She started to fly toward whatever it was she was sensing, when Link called her name.

“Tashi, wait!”

“What?” she asked, stopping in her tracks.

“I don’t know… You just… You shouldn’t mess with things like that…”

“Things like what?” Tashi hovered closer to the human.

“I… I don’t know. I just remember stories about a demon sealed underground over by the beach that way.”

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” Tashi laughed before continuing on her way, only to stop once again when Link called out.

“Tashi, I’m serious!”

“As am I. I at least want to see if it’s anyone I used to know trapped under there,” she laughed. “Hey, if you’re really that worried, come with me.”

“Are you kidding? And make my uncle madder?”

“I didn’t know you could turn him into a plant,” the faerie laughed.

“This isn’t the time for jokes!”

“Well, I’m going, so if you’re not coming with… Bye!” She flew away, not stopping this time. Link sighed and turned back to the tool shed to retrieve a handmade wooden boomerang from a stash of several before following her toward the beach.

She followed the faerie out of the grove, through a small wall of trees, and out into a small stretch of grassland that gave way to yellow-white sand of the Western coast of the island. To their right was a small strait which ran between the two islands, with a bridge built over it. Other than Mother Isle, there was no other land in sight, just ocean as far as the eye could see.

“How do you even plan to find out where this supposed seal is?” Link asked, to which Tashi shrugged and kept flying. While Link ran after her, she suddenly gasped as, where she expected to find the ground beneath her right foot, there was nothing, and she fell into darkness, scraping her knees and forearm before feeling something pull her upward, breaking her fall. When her feet touched the cold stone, the grip on her clothes released, and Tashi flew around to examine the girl face to face. 

"Are you okay?"

"You were the one who grabbed me?"

"Well, I tried," she shrugged. "I'm not as fast as I once was. Gotta shake off the rust." They both laughed at this, until Link realized she had dropped her boomerang. 

"Oh, here it is," Tashi said, zooming over to pick up the wooden tool. Link accepted it and slid it back under her belt before examining her scrapes. "Are you okay?"

“I’ve been worse,” she groaned back. “It feels like I’ve scraped my skin pretty bad, but I can’t see. Oh, thanks,” she added when Tashi flew in circles around her, shining her light on the human’s wounds. 

"It looks pretty bad, but at least they're clean."

"Yeah, they'll heal fine," Link said. "For now, it's just gonna burn a bit. Wouldn't be the first time-Hey!" Tashi had placed her hands on the farmer's forearm, and the scrapes started to disappear. "How are you doing that?"

"Force," the faerie responded absent-mindedly as she went about healing the other scrapes, as if she had done this hundreds of times before. "I give a little to you, get some back from the world."

"I don't follow..."

"Sorry, what? Oh, right," Tashi said, flitting around the cave once the healing was done and Link's skin looked as if the scrapes had never happened. “Well, force is... How to explain... It's life, basically. Hey, come on, we've got to get out of here.” She began to fly farther into the darkness, shining her bright orb of light over the cave walls and floor wherever she went, and soon that light would be beyond Link’s vision.

“Tashi, wait up!” The faerie flew backward a bit, as if swimming in water. 

"Yes?"

"I still don't get it. If 'force' is life, then why don't I glow or heal people?" Tashi thought for a moment before shrugging.

"Because... you're not a faerie," she laughed.

"Come on, I'm serious."

" _You_ come on," she said, flying forward again. "Unless you want to stay down here." Link never liked having a question go unanswered, but she followed. Soon enough, Tashi spoke up again. "A long time ago, and I mean a long time ago, nothing existed the way it does now. Then three gorgeous women - I like to imagine them as gorgeous, don't judge me - happened upon a particular spot in the cosmos and decided to change things. The first one, a red-headed woman with muscles that would make Goron wrestlers throw in the towel, swept her arms across-"

"I already know this story," Link cut her off with a sigh. "I've read it a thousand times."

"Oh yeah? Well, did you also read that when the second sister breathed on this floating hunk of rock, the very essence of life as we know it came into existence?"

"Well... Not in those exact words, but yes."

"Everywhere that breath settled, life happened, just like that." The faerie snapped her fingers to emphasize the point. "But there was a lot of that breath that never settled."

"And... That's where you came from?"

"Not me," she giggled. "I mean, yes, technically. But I wasn't formed yet at that time. My siblings and I were still a gust of wind, blowing through the forests of the world, refusing to settle to the ground and sprout into greenery."

"So you could've ended up as a tree instead?"

"I suppose. I'm not sure on the specifics, I just know I've watched other faeries being born before."

"Are you sure that's where faeries came from?"

"I'm... fairly confident, yeah."

As they walked into a new chamber, Tashi's light glinted off of something farther in.

“What’s that?” Link asked, to which Tashi had no answer, so they both proceeded. Near the back of the chamber, there was a rise in the ground, and wedged into the cold stone was a short sword, its ornate red and gold hilt and guard and the metal blade shining as it reflected Tashi’s light.

“Oh, well there’s your answer,” Tashi said. “It’s a sword.”

“But what’s a sword doing stuck in the ground in a cave?” Link asked, jogging toward it.

“I don’t know,” Tashi said, glancing around the cave. “But it’d be better not to touch… it…” She had spoken too late, as Link had already pulled the sword out of the ground. “Great,” she sighed, then gasped when she saw pink and orange energy bursting out of the sword, throwing Link back and causing her to drop the weapon as she hit the ground. While she tried to get up, catching her breath after having it knocked out of her, she saw the dark energy taking the shapes of large beasts - three of them, to be exact. One was a dragon with shimmering golden scales, the second an enormous scorpion, and the third a lion that was almost the size of the dragon. Another burst of magic, this one colored red, knocked the three through the roof - literally - breaking through the cave roof and causing sand, dirt, and rock to fall down into the chamber at the same time that sunlight flooded the cave from above.

The three monsters were gone, but in their place was a human - or so it seemed to be - with a flowing red fur cape and tattered brown rags underneath. She was kneeling on the cold stone ground on all fours, but only for a moment. She rose up to her feet and soon floated into the air, rushing forward to pick up the sword Link had pulled from the ground. She stared closely at the blade, rising up into the air, her dark brown hair seeming to glow like fire in the sunlight, her brown eyes glinting amber, as a smile suddenly split her pale face.

<“It’s good to finally be out of there. Who do I get to kill first? Well? Come on, show yourself!”>

She looked around but, apparently not finding what she was looking for, rubbed and blinked her eyes and took a second glance. That was when she saw Link and Tashi.

<“Hm, no, this one doesn’t look familiar. YOU! Hylia's filth! Are you the one who pulled me out of the ground?”>

“I think she’s looking at me, Tashi, but I can’t tell what she’s saying.”

“That’s because she’s speaking an ancient language from the time of Hylia,” Tashi explained, to which the cloaked individual snapped her gaze at the faerie.

<"Child of Farore’s breath! Tell me, what is this tongue you use?”>

“W-w-well,” Tashi stammered, before attempting the forgotten dialect. <“That... of Hyrule... modern speak.”>

<“Hy - rule? I’ve never heard of any such person or place. Don’t tell me lies, or you’ll find the dust choked out of you!”> Her hair really was turning into fire now. Tashi found herself shaking and letting out loud sounds like shards of broken glass colliding with each other.

<“Oh no,”> Tashi began in the ancient language, but shifted immediately to the Free Tongue as she flew closer to Link. “You really, really shouldn’t have pulled her out, Link.”

“Pulled _her_ out?” Link wondered at the strange choice of words, gulping, as she rose to her feet again.

“This is Koray the Wolf King. She was one of the most deadly warrior gods in the old days, before the dark forces from the beginning of time were sealed away and the kingdom of Hyrule was formed. She was famous for killing on a whim, even some of her own soldiers. If she’s anything like she used to be, she could burn down this entire island just because she felt like it!”

“That’s not going to happen,” Link said, rearing back her left arm before releasing her boomerang. The weapon smacked right into its target and came soaring back in a wide arc. Link raised her arm and jumped up to catch the twirling boomerang, while Koray laughed. The farm girl definitely didn’t need a translation for that.

<“Seriously? You think that a piece of wood could hurt ME?”>

Link threw the weapon again, but this time it hit a wall and fell to the ground with a series of clacking sounds, not coming back. The Wolf King rushed through the air and picked up the farmer by the throat.

<“What are you trying to prove, attacking me? Are you trying to make a name for yourself by dying a painful death at my hands? You have no power! I can sense that easily. You don’t even know how to use magic! What do you hope to accomplish when your only weapon is a pathetic plank of wood?”

Of course, her victim couldn’t understand any of this. She raised her arms up and grasped the strange woman’s wrists with her hands, though she couldn’t pry herself free. Tashi was already trying to pull at the woman's knuckles, to no avail.

“I know,” Link choked out. “I know… You have the power to kill me… And maybe you really… wouldn’t feel bad about it… But I promise… I have nothing against you… I’m just scared for the people I love… So kill me if you want… Just don’t hurt my family…”

At the end of this statement, the Wolf King’s eyes grew wide. She released her grip on Link, who fell to the ground, the fall once again only softened by Tashi. As the young farmer gasped for breath, her attacker seemed to be lost in thought, standing quite still and staring off into space. She eventually snapped out of her reverie, then shot up through the newly-made hole in the cave roof, taking the sword with her, flying faster and faster until she was out of sight.

“Link!” Tashi shouted, patting her palm against the human's cheek. “Are you going to be alright?”

“I’m fine,” Link finally answered after taking deep breaths, rubbing her neck with a grimace on her face. “Tashi, I think, for just a moment… She could understand what I was saying.”

“Not what you were saying,” Tashi corrected. “What you were _feeling_. I think she could tell what you were trying to say to her, and something about it might have reminded her of something.”

“What could I have reminded her of?” 

“Who knows?” Tashi shrugged. “Something in the past, I guess.”

“Let’s just get out of here,” Link sighed as she finally rose to her feet.

“Sounds good to me!” Tashi cheered. After Link searched around the cave for a moment, she finally found her boomerang, and with her weapon stowed safely away, she and her faerie friend began the long climb back up to the surface.

Link glanced around as she wiped dirt from her hands and knees, but couldn’t find the three giant beasts Koray had knocked out of the cave. There was quite a bit of destruction; the chunks of loose rock had gone flying out in all directions, some landing in the ocean while others blasted through the trees or simply made tiny craters in the beach.

“They’re not here, Link,” Tashi said. “Wherever they might've gone, they’re beyond our control for now. You should head on home.”

“Wait… You mean you’re not coming?”

“I never meant to stay in the first place,” Tashi shook her head. “I’ve got a lot of things to do, Link. A lot of places to go to and messes to clean up. And now I have one more. Er… Make that four more.”

“Let me come with you! I can help.”

“Not sure your uncle would like that idea.”

“He doesn’t have to know!”

“Link! That would be irresponsible, not only of you, but of me. You have a home and a family to go home to, so go home to it! If you don’t, I’ll drag you there myself.”

“I’d like to see you try," Link scoffed.

“Remember you said that,” the faerie said, pushing up her sleeves before grabbing the human by the collar of her work shirt and pulling her toward the farm.

“Ow! How are you doing this?!”

“Thought I’m weak because I’m tiny, huh? That’s what you get for judging things by face value.”

“What are you two doing?” Dallin asked when they approached the farm to see him repairing a broken fence. Tashi let go of Link, who fell backward before rolling sideways and springing back up to her feet.

“Oh no, it reached all the way here, too?” the faerie asked.

_“What_ reached all the way here?” her uncle asked, rising to his feet and lifting the huge toolbox at his side.

“Uh… Nothing," Link said hastily. "Nothing happened.”

“Sir Dallin, you’ll have to forgive me,” Tashi said. “I caused some chaos, and sort of dragged your niece into it.”

“Chaos?”

“It’s hard to explain. Just know that breach in your fence and that giant boulder are my fault, and I’ll pay you whatever things like that cost these days as soon as I get my money back. You have my word.”

“You don’t need to promise me things like that,” the man shook his head. “Just tell me the full story later. The important thing is that you’re both okay.”

“My thanks for your concern,” the faerie said with a midair bow. "I’ll be taking my leave now. I have to be on my way, you understand.”

“And I’m going with her,” Link proclaimed.

“Link,” Tashi sighed. “No. We’ve been over this.”

“I can help you! I’m strong enough to work on a farm. I’m smart, I read books. I can even get animals to like me! The cows on this farm listen to me, I get them into the barn easier than anyone.”

“I’m sure that’s a useful skill in some places,” Tashi said slowly, “but giant lions and scorpions aren’t cows.”

“Tashi, I can do it! I can help you. I want to go!”

“Okay,” Dallin said.

“What?!” Tashi and Link shrieked together in disbelief.

“If I let _all_ of the cows out into the paddock, can you get them back in under five minutes?”

“Five minutes is nowhere near my personal record,” Link laughed, folding her fingers behind her head. “No problem.”

“Alright,” her uncle nodded. “If you can make good on your word, I’ll let you go with her.”

“Are you serious?”

“Just wait here.”

“Sir Dallin, I really don’t think this is a good idea,” Tashi said, but the blue-haired man didn’t stop walking toward the barn.

“Would you say yes if he does?” Link asked. “Be honest.”

“Link…” Tashi sighed. “Yes. I would. But I don’t even know what the world is like anymore, so I can’t promise to protect you. Will he really be okay with that?”

“I…”

“All ready,” Dallin called. “Let’s do this.” Link jogged up ahead, and Tashi followed.

“I’ll give you five minutes from the whistle to get all the cows into the barn. You ready?”

“Yep,” Link nodded, jumping over the fence and grabbing a rope that was wrapped neatly around a post.

“And…”

Dallin blew hard on the whistle at his neck, and Link took off. She ran as fast as she could to a cow whose hair was light brown all over, patting her gently on the head and calling the name “Elezia”. The cow followed willingly to the barn entrance, and with a light push from the farmer, walked inside. Link then turned her attention to three spotted cows who tended to graze together. She reached into a pocket in her overalls and pulled out a handful of golden oats, dropping just a few so that the cows could see it and waving her hand to show that she had more. The three dropped whatever they had been doing and lumbered after her, and she coaxed them into the barn easily enough.

For the next two cows, she pulled a corked glass bottle from between her layers of clothing and waved it gently in the air. Inside the bottle was her pet stag beetle, Mori. The two cows, upon seeing the bug, high-tailed it back to the barn all on their own, and Link moved on to the next, cackling.

“Good job as always, Mori.” The bug moved his pincers in response before she replaced the bottle.

Next were four tiny calves, born only that Spring. Three of them, she knew were easily goaded with the golden oats, but the last was stubborn and needed to be dragged. She handled the three first, then lassoed the fourth and pulled her in. The tiny calf bayed indignantly, but couldn’t fight back against Link’s strength.

That was nine - only one remained, and it was her uncle’s favorite. The two were practically best friends, and it was he who always brought her inside. Link shrugged and approached the cow the same way she had the others.

“Come on, Marianne,” she said, making a waving gesture. “Time to go back.” The big blue cow didn’t even look at her. “Let’s go,” Link persisted, pulling more of the golden oats from her front pocket. The cow ignored them. She took a small sampling and waved it under the cow’s mouth. “Yeah, smell that? Good, huh?” Marianne ate the oats, then went back to staring off into the distance. “Want more?” Link asked, holding her hand farther away. No response.

“Okay,” she said, putting the oats back and going for the beetle. No response. She uncorked the bottle and let Mori crawl out and onto her arm. Marianne glanced at the insect and away again, snorting.

“Hard way, then,” Link nodded, unfurling the rope around her shoulder. This was when Marianne finally moved - out of the way of her lasso throw. “Oh, come on, Marianne!” Dallin and Tashi couldn’t help but laugh at the cow’s behavior, but it definitely didn’t help Link’s frustrations.

She tossed the rope many times before finally getting a successful catch, but even then, the cow proved hard to wrangle. Link tried to pull gently at first, figuring Marianne would get the message, but the cow just stood there, acting as if there wasn’t a rope around her.

In the end, Link was forced to pull the stubborn cow all the way to the barn.

“I can’t believe how strong Link is for her age,” Tashi said.

“Mmhm, that’s what happens when you raise a kid on milk.”

“Milk?” Tashi asked. “I had plenty of that when I was a child, and I’m pretty average, strength-wise.”

“Did you get it from your own animals?”

“Oh… No. I guess that’s what does it,” she laughed.

“Yep,” Dallin nodded. “When Link was younger, she helped me carry food to the cows and sheep, and milk them every day. Now that she’s older, she does some of that work herself. We still make butter and cheese together, but…” He trailed off, bobbing his head in the direction of the barn.

It took many deep breaths and all the might her muscles could muster, but Link succeeded at last! Once Marianne’s front feet passed through the doorway, she happily moved to her stall all on her own. Though she didn’t want to, Link took the time to take off the lasso and wind the rope around her shoulder before walking out of the barn and falling on her rear. Her uncle and faerie friend had already crossed the pasture to greet her.

“You did great, Link,” Tashi said. “Remind me not to underestimate you again.”

“Thanks,” Link panted, wiping away sweat from her still-red face. “What’s my time?”

“More than seven minutes,” Dallin said, presenting his watch. Whatever form of a smile the farm girl had, faded.

“That stupid cow!”

“Hey now.”

“I would’ve been done so fast if it wasn’t…” She glared up at her uncle. “You knew! You knew she wouldn’t listen to me, didn’t you?”

“Lots of unexpected things like that in life,” Dallin nodded. “Sorry.”

“’Sorry’? You made me look like a fool, on purpose?”

“That wasn’t why,” her uncle said. “And you know it. But you went into a situation expecting it to come out the way you planned, and it didn’t. That happens sometimes.”

“This is completely unfair,” Link said, rising to her feet. “I want a retry.”

“Sorry,” Dallin shrugged, putting away his pocket watch. “We had a deal. Guess you’ve still got a lot to learn.”

“Exactly! That’s why I should be out there.” She emphasized the end of her sentence with her entire hand pointing away, toward the Eastern ocean. “Learning, discovering, broadening my horizons, instead of…” She trailed off, her face now red for different reasons, and closed her eyes.

“Instead of what?” her uncle asked.

“Nothing.” She tossed her rope to the side and walked the other way.

“Link, tell me,” Dallin called, but she only sped up her gait.

“What’s the point?” she asked, never looking back. “You wouldn’t get it. You never even try.”

“Want me to talk to her?” Tashi asked.

“Give her a while,” he shook his head. “She’ll cool down in her own time.”

\/\/\/\/\/

The sun had already gone down by the time Tashi was drawn outside by the sound of music. Link was sitting on the roof of the house, her back against the chimney, legs folded, playing an old, bent-up harmonica. The faerie listened for a few minutes before flying closer.

“Such a sad-sounding song for someone so young,” she said, alighting on Link’s right knee. “Why don’t you play something cheery for me?”

“What am I, your personal minstrel?” Despite her words, she put away the harmonica, only to retrieve a recorder and play a simple melody on it.

“Hey, I know that song!” Tashi leaped back into the air. “I haven’t heard it in… well, forever!

_Twinkle, twinkle, newborn star,_  
_shine your light here from afar._  
_Make my-”_ She cut off abruptly when Link stopped playing.

“That’s not how that song goes.”

“Oh… Maybe it changed over time. How do you sing it?” A sly grin made its way onto Link’s face.

_“Twinkle, twinkle, annoying faerie,_  
_I’m in no mood for making merry.”_

“Hey, that’s actually pretty clever,” Tashi laughed, clapping. “You just came up with that?” The farmer shrugged. “Sing more!”

_“Can’t you see I’m feeling bad?_  
_Go away before I get mad._  
_Twinkle, Twinkle, annoying faerie…”_ She thought for a few seconds.

_“Don’t become my adversary.”_

“That was really good,” Tashi couldn’t help but applaud more. “I’m impressed with your improvisation skills.”

“Tashi, I know the fake song was a joke… but I’m serious. Go away.”

“I just came by to give you the good news,” The faerie shrugged. “But if you don’t want it…”

“What news?” Tashi paced in a circle on the human’s knee, arms held out on each side for balance.

“Oh, just that your uncle said you can come with me tomorrow~”

“You’re joking.”

“Nope,” the faerie said, ending her pacing by doing a quick one-heel turn to face Link. “I’m serious. He said you can come with me if you wake up and get ready on time, and eat breakfast. And ‘take that stray with you.’ Which I’m guessing he means your friend Clara.”

“This is just another trick,” Link huffed, going back to playing the recorder.

“Nope, no trick,” Tashi shook her head. “But… There is one more condition. You can only come with me as long as I stay on these isles. When I’m ready to move on, you have to come back and tell him how you feel.”

“How I… feel?”

“If you still want to sail away by the time I finish up on… What do you call it these days? Mother Island?” Link nodded. “Then you can stay with me and go wherever I go. But if you discover that you hate it and want to come back to the safety of home… You’ll do so.”

Link considered the conditions for a moment in silence.

“And you’re okay with all of this?”

“Me?” Tashi put a finger to her chin, as if weighing an important decision. “I’m fine with it, I enjoy your company.”

“You do?”

“Of course, silly! I didn't stay here so long just for the milk - though it is the best milk I've ever had, let's be honest." This finally got a smile out of her human friend. "I just can’t promise to keep you safe, like I said earlier. Are you okay with that?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“Is… Is Uncle Dallin okay? Did I hurt his feelings?” Tashi took a moment to structure her response.

“He’s… a parent whose child is becoming an adult. That’s never easy. But it’s not your fault. Not his fault. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s the circle we’re all moving in. The big wheel of life keeps turning. All things grow.”

“All things grow…” 

“But yeah, the implication that you don’t want to live here probably did hurt his feelings pretty bad,” Tashi nodded. “He’s asleep,” she added when Link shot up to her feet. The feeling of her heart falling had returned, only this time her gut was plummeting with it. “Say what you’ve got to say tomorrow, hm?”

“That’ll just make it harder to leave,” she said, taking her seat once again.

“Probably for the best. Goodnight, Link.”

“…Goodnight.”

\/\/\/\/\/

Link rose from her bed before sunrise and yawned at the view outside her window. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, and took care of the other morning necessaries before Clara’s first crow. She made a few flexing poses in the mirror before getting to work on her preparations.

The farm girl got dressed in a dark green long-sleeved shirt under a short-sleeved off-white button-up, along with padded light brown pants. She slipped on a pair of protective stockings and brown leather boots, tying them up to make sure that they were nice and secure. She then slipped on her small grey half-finger gloves, worn in from plenty of use. She wrapped a cloth belt around her waist and tucked her boomerang beneath. Now it was time to make sure she packed everything.

In her rucksack she had a large wool coat in case she got cold, a few extra sets of clothes, a wheel of cheese from the shelves, her recorder and harmonica, and a nice, long rope, because you never know when you’ll need one of those. There was also one book, tucked safely away within the folds of the coat, along with several small utensils and tools, including her wood-carving knife.

After tying her hair up and taking a deep breath, she stepped outside her bedroom and headed downstairs. Her uncle was busy at the stove, and her faerie friend was seated on top of the dining room table.

“Ready?”

“Not quite yet,” Tashi said between bites, shoveling bits of eggs fresh from the stove like there was no tomorrow. “These are the greatest eggs I’ve ever had.”

“Link, you should have some eggs too, before you set out,” Dallin said from behind the kitchen half-wall.

“No thank you, Uncle, I can’t eat right now.”

“You’re not even the littlest bit hungry?” Tashi asked with a pointed stare. Link’s eyes flashed with recognition before she blinked them, recalling the conversation of the previous night.

“On second thought, I’ll take an omelet,” Link said, setting down her rucksack and taking a seat at the table, mouthing the words “Thank you” to the faerie.

“Here you go,” Dallin said, moving swiftly from the kitchen to the dining room with a hot skillet to carefully set three cheesy omelettes on the plate in front of his niece.

“Thank you, Uncle,” Link said before digging in, the amazing taste making her grateful that she had changed her mind.

“Of course, dear heart,” he said before taking the pan back to the kitchen and getting started on another batch. He soon came back with a pleasant-smelling mixture in the same pan. “You should also have some rice and potatoes for your long journey.”

“I think the eggs will suffice,” Link shook her head, before Tashi cleared her throat.

“Are you sure?”

“Fine,” the girl sighed, moving her fork to allow her uncle to pile up the food. “Thank you, Uncle.”

“You’re very welcome,” he replied with a grin before returning to the kitchen yet again. This happened over and over, and the ranch girl was soon faced with a stack of food, growing more annoyed by the second, until he finally let up. Before Link had quite finished what was already on her plate, he came back once more with a bowl of soup. “You could use some hearty soup to wash it all down.”

“Uncle…”

“Yes?”

“…Nothing.” She blew cool air on the soup for a moment before throwing her head back and downing the entire bowl. “What else have you got? Fish? Sausage? Bean paste? Sweetmeats?”

“She’s got a lot of perseverance,” Tashi whistled.

“Of course,” Dallin said as he returned to the kitchen. “That’s what happens when you raise a kid on eggs.”

“Now it’s eggs?” the faerie smiled. “How’s that?”

““We’ve got a bunch of cuccos, and they all think they’re the boss. They don’t just let anybody take their eggs. It takes a hard head to stomp your way in there and tell those birds how it’s gonna be.”

“Ah, so that’s why you’re so stubborn,” she laughed, giving Link a wink.

“So what’s next?” Link asked.

“Let me eat, now that you two have been fed,” Dallin said, sitting down with his own plate. After a few bites of hot omelette, however, he set down his fork and stared at Link, smiling a smile that seemed happy and sad all at the same time.

“What?” Link asked, bemused, between sips of milk. “What are you looking at, Uncle?

“Someone very special,” he answered, letting out a peal of laughter.

“Goofy old man,” the farm girl chortled before gulping down the last of her milk.

“I’m sorry I embarrassed you yesterday,” he said all of a sudden. “That wasn’t right, and I know it. I need to own up. I was acting less than the man I should be.”

“Uncle…”

“I have more to say. I’m also sorry I haven’t paid enough attention to you these past few years. I guess I just assumed you’d keep on like you always had, doing the same, being the same person. But that’s not how people work, and I forgot that, living out here, away from everyone. I should’ve moved into town when you were a baby and gotten a job in their farmlands, but… I was too stubborn to let go to the land your parents worked so hard to keep.”

“I’ve grown up fine, I promise,” Link sighed, trying to expel a weighty feeling from her gut like a dragon blowing smoke. “I love it here. I love taking care of the animals. I love you. None of that is why I want to leave.”

“Then why-?”

“Because this can’t be all there is. I’ve walked over every possible square foot of the land, through the forests and fields and mountains. I’ve swam as far as I possibly can, too many times to count, and gotten nowhere. I can’t deal with feeling so trapped. I feel like there’s got to be more to life out there, something I’m missing, something important.”

“I know what you mean,” Dallin said slowly. Link tried in vain to stifle her laughter; a scoff escaped her chest and she covered her mouth.

“You, Uncle? You’re the most down-to-earth person I know.”

“That’s true, isn’t it?” Dallin grinned, a wide grin. For just a moment he was no longer looking at Link, but someone else, from long ago.

“I need to apologize, too,” Link said, sweeping him out of his reverie. “I hurt your feelings. I can’t stand doing that. You’ve gone through more than I’ll ever know already.”

“Ahh, I’m a sturdy old man, I’ll find a way to survive,” he laughed. “You worry about coming up with an answer for me. When Madame Tashi brings you back here, you have to tell me honestly if you want to keep going. We’ll decide the rest from there.”

“Together?” Link asked.

“As families should,” he smiled. “Now, go on. Don’t waste any more of the morning.”

“Thank you, Uncle,” she said, rising from her seat and planting a kiss on the top of his head before trotting outside.

“And take that wild cucco with you,” he added as he rose to his feet.

“Thank you for being such a great host, Sir Dallin,” Tashi said with a low midair bow before flying after the girl. “We’ll be seeing you later!”

“I’ll be waiting for that day,” the blue-haired man smiled, waving through the open doorway. Link had already picked up Clara and cradled the cucco in her arms. “I hope you both fare well on your travels.”

“And you at home, Father,” Link said, pulling in a deep breath after speaking the word and turning around, to the North, as she exhaled. With her back turned, she did not see the brief change in Dallin’s demeanor, but she heard the break in his voice when he thanked her for her well-wishes.

She remembered the first time she had used that title, when she was much younger; he was upset, because he insisted it be reserved for the memory of his sister’s husband. Being a relatively well-behaved child, she respected his wishes on the outside. But within her heart, that word could only ever belong to the person who raised her.

“Let’s go,” Tashi said, flying ahead of the farm girl. She nodded, wanting the moment to pass before she spoke up again, in case her words bid tears to follow, and put one foot in front of the other.

It took the rest of the morning, crossing the rope bridge and walking across the fields on the Southern half of Mother Isle, until the farm was out of view.

And all the way, she didn’t look back.

\/\/\/\/\/


End file.
